Queensland resources communities deserve to know the truth about the State Government’s plan to increase royalty taxes, Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said today.
“Queenslanders, particularly people living in regional areas, are entitled to know the full details of the Palaszczuk Government’s resources royalty tax hike, which is being done behind closed doors and without industry consultation,” he said.
“At the last election, the Palaszczuk Government said there would be no new or increased taxes, but Treasurer Cameron Dick is now planning to impose higher royalty taxes on our sector without consulting the industry or the resources communities most affected by this broken election promise.
“The Government won’t even say how much the new tax will be or how it will apply. This is the opposite of an open and transparent government.”
Mr Macfarlane said imposing higher taxes on the resources sector, potentially from July 1, 2022, could immediately place regional jobs and projects in jeopardy.
“As Queensland’s largest export industry, our sector’s ability to compete internationally is essential to our ongoing success,” he said.
“That’s why resources regions have the most to lose if Queensland prices itself out of the market for new resources projects.
“Projects may not go ahead or won’t be expanded now because of the instability and uncertainty created by the Queensland Government changing its royalty tax regime almost overnight.
“The Treasurer’s cavalier attitude to tax changes raises red flags for investors in all Queensland resource projects because it signals the Queensland Government is happy to move the financial goalposts without consultation,” he said.
“If resource investors can’t be certain the Queensland Government will keep the same rules for the life of their project, that makes our state less attractive for all resource projects.
“At a time Queensland needs to be making smart economic decisions about the long-term future of the resources sector – which contributed $84.3 billion last financial year to the state economy – this is not one of them.”
Mr Macfarlane said a public campaign launched by the resources sector over the weekend will focus on communicating to the public that mining companies share their prosperity with Queenslanders on a fair and ongoing basis.
“We want every Queenslander to know that as commodity prices rise, so too do royalties paid by resources companies into the state budget – that’s how the system works,” he said.
“On top of that, Queensland already has some of the highest royalty rates in the world, and certainly the highest in Australia by far.
“This financial year the resources sector will pay more than $8 billion in royalty taxes into the state budget because of higher commodity prices, which is more than three times the amount paid last year.”
Mr Macfarlane said the Palaszczuk Government is risking the state’s future by planning a new tax hike on Queensland’s $77 billion annual export industry at a time the sector had been confidently predicting a future period of growth and development.
“Queenslanders have a right to know why the government is breaking its election promise not to impose new taxes,” he said.
“Our door is open to being consulted on this matter, so we can make sure the government fully understands the long-term implications for Queensland of this short-term decision to plug a hole in the state budget.”
